Understanding Alternative Finance

Key findings

In 2014 the alternative finance market is expected to grow to £1.74 billion.

The market grew by 150 per cent from 2012 to 2013 and is on track to grow by 161 per cent from 2013 to 2014.

It is expected that the UK alternative finance market will have provided working, over £1bn of growth and working capital to an estimated 7,180 SME equivalent to 2.4 per cent of bank lending to businesses.

70 per cent of SME borrowers using P2P business lending have seen their turnover grow since secured funding with 63 per cent of them recording a growth in profit.

Alternative finance is providing significant additional giving to social good projects, with more than three in four backers of projects with a social focus using funds in addition to what they would normally give to charitable causes.